Search Results for: jason pearson

Jason Pearson is one of the most popular comic artists working today. His Body Bags series is considered a classic example of what a writer/artist can do when left to his own creation.

I was fortunate enough to meet Jason at Heroes Con earlier this month and was even able to get a Stallone sketch from him. Jason had some of the pages for his new series, Redbird, on display… and man, did they look sweet!

You can read about Jason and Redbird by clicking on THIS LINK… and then we can meet back here tomorrow.

When I was in high school and college I bought a lot of Marvel comics. Then as I got older I found myself bying fewer and fewer Marvels. It even got to the point that I’d go months [years?] without getting anything from the house that Stan and Jack built. Of course I was buying fewer comics in general…

Imagine my surprise to find that my Preview order this month has nine comics and four of them are from Marvel [Punisher Annual #1, Punisher: Frank Castle Max #74, Dominic Fortune #2 and Criminal: Sinners #1]. Of course if Marvel continues to feature art by Dave Johnson, Jason Pearson, Howard Chaykin and Sean Phillips with stories by Rick Remender, Victor Gischler, Howard Chaykin and Ed Brubaker, how can I not buy ’em?

Way back in April, I posted an

item about the return of Jason Pearson’s “Body Bags.”

At that time Jason said if the response to the reprints was good enough, we’d see the return of Mack and Panda.

Today it was announced that two new Body Bags projects are in the works.

In November we’ll get Body Bags: 3 The Hard Way, which will include a new 20 page story called “Hit ‘Da Switches,” along with two older short stories that will be re-printed in color for the first time ever. Then in January, Jason will follow up with an all new 48 page Body Bags one-shot.

Ah, life continues to be good!

As we were unloading the car I saw Cully Hamner and Casey Jones who were also getting ready to head over.

Mike and I took a quick trip around the con to get our bearings and ran into several fans including Steven Lee [who was wearing a StalloneZone t-shirt! Thanks Steven!], James Howell, Hal, Robert Jewell, Kwan, The ComicDude and others. I saw that Tony Harris was setting up and took him a StalloneZone shirt since I ran out before he completed my sketch at AtlantaCon. Gus Vasquez told me that he’d have my Stallone piece on Saturday.

I then made my way to Jason Pearson‘s table. Only two other people were ahead of me so I felt pretty confident that I’d get a sketch if Jason didn’t mind drawing Stallone. Jason was running late, but luckily “The Big Man” had his portable dvd player and entertained us with a history channel dvd on comics. Jason arrived and when it was my turn I asked him about doing a Stallone piece. Jason said that he wasn’t real good at likenesses, but I explained that I wanted HIS take on Sly. He said he’d give it a try and that I should bring back my reference material at the end of the day since he wanted to work on it in his hotel room. Cool!

Next was Michael Avon Oeming‘s table. I picked up his sketchbook [a bargain at five bucks]. Michael had already turned out a couple of cool sketches and I asked if I could get on his list. He said that he wasn’t real good at likenesses [where had I heard that before?] and I told him that I wanted HIS take on Sly. He looked at my portfolio of Stallone sketches and said he’d like to give “Nighthawks” a shot and that I should check back in an hour or so.

As Friday was winding down I picked up my sketch from Michael Avon Oeming who did a great job [and I think that it does look like Sly] and dropped off my reference material for Jason Pearson.

Several of us, actually about 20, had decided to walk over to Uno’s for dinner. My wife and two sons, Big Beatty, James Howell, Steven Lee, Robert Jewell, Gary McGee, Jason WalkerGary and Big Beatty… and believe it or not Gary was wilder. It was about 10:30 when we finished up with dinner so it was back to the hotel for a little visiting and then to the room for some sleep. and others made the trip. Because our group was so large it took a while for them to get us in and even then we were split into two groups. And of course my group was the rowdy one thanks to

As the con was gettting ready to open on Saturday I found myself in line for some breakfast at the concession stand with Michael Avon Oeming. He said that he met several StalloneZone fans on Friday [they saw him working on the Sly sketch]. Michael offered to buy me breakfast! I thanked him, and instead offered to buy his breakfast! As it ended up, we both bought our own eats, but what a cool guy. I’d heard good things about Michael and he lived up to his rep of being “one of the good guys.”

I spent Saturday alternating between Beatty‘s table and walking around the show to talk to fans and pros. I was able to spend a bit of time with or at least say hi to Kelsey Shannon [Beatty‘s son!], Cully Hamner, Brian Stelfreeze, Jeff Parker, Adam Hughes and Allison Sohn, Phil Noto, Tony Harris, Eric Powell, Casey Jones, Tommy Lee Edwards and so many others.

Gus Vasquez was able to get me my sketch before he had to fly out to the set of Sin City! He gave me two characters [Rocky nailing Clubber Lang] and it was definitely worth the wait

I checked in with Jason Pearson. He had sketched out my Stallone piece and had decided to do Rocky hitting the meat. It was looking great. The big beefy Rocky punching the beef! LOL!

Dinner Saturday night was at Fuel for some pizza or subs. This time it was Beatty, James Howell, Steven Lee, Hal and others. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and spent an hour or so in the lobby talking with fans and pros. Then a bunch of us headed up to James and Hal‘s room to look at their portfolios and latest acquisitions.

On Sunday Jason had my Stallone piece ready. Several people came up to me and told me it was done and looked great. When I picked it up I saw that they were right. Jason Pearson is such a talented guy.

As you can see from this picture Craig and Big Beatty hit it off pretty well!

I had been by Tommy Lee Edwards‘ table. He was doing some really cool sketches and I hoped that I’d be able to get on his list. Luckily he could fit me in. Tommy and I talked about which character he would do… he wasn’t sure and so I suggested Jack Carter if he couldn’t decide on one. I went back to Beatty’s table and told him I had the hook-up with Tommy.

Beatty was stoked. He’s a big Tommy Lee fan and so we walked over. It turns out that Tommy likes Beatty‘s work as well. We all talked for a bit and then Tommy said I should check back in a little while. When I did, I found that Tommy had started to do Deke from “Nighthawks” but then remembered that I suggested Jack Carter and so he changed it to Carter. Man, I can’t tell you how much I love this piece. The energy and colors and… just look at it! Beautiful!

Believe it or not Big Beatty was even recruited to serve as one of the auctioneers with Tim Townsend!

Maybe I’ll see you there!

Actually it was good that we went up on Friday since the con organizers set up a pre-show sketch session. For a $25 donation [which went to Jeff Jones] you could mingle with the artists who were doing really nice head sketches and more. Artists sketching included Phil Noto, Mike Kaluata, Adam Hughes, Brian Stelfreeze, Cully Hamner, Georges Jeanty, and many others. I’ve got to make special mention of a cool sketch “combo.” Georges did a nice head shot of “Captain America looking up into the distance” for one of the fans. Later the same fan returned. Adam Hughes had added a headshot of Bucky looking up in the same direction as Cap with the caption, “Uh, Cap… what are we looking at?” That just cracked me [and everyone else at the table] up.

Mike was making the rounds getting Hellboy sketches while I sat at a table with Big Beatty and Phil Noto who were both sketching. As the sun went down Phil moved to a better light source and his seat was taken by a rotating crew which included Kelsey Shannon, James Howell and others. The table got kind of rowdy as people came up asking Big Beatty for sketches and he determined whether or not it was for a “fetish collection.” It was really cool talking movies and comics and “stuff” with everyone at the table or passing by. A guy named “Little John” was gettting sketches and said that he checks out The StalloneZone and ZONE on a regular basis. How cool is that?

The next morning Mike, Beatty, and I met James Howell at the Waffle House for a hearty breakfast. Then it was off to the con! As we were walking in we saw John Higashi and Steven Lee arriving. Higashi was sporting his StalloneZone shirt!

Beatty and I went up to get our passes. Adam Hughes was there to get his as well. The guy giving out the passes asked Adam if he was an artist! Adam patiently said he was and proceeded to spell his name. No passes. The guy looked in a couple of different places. Still no passes. As Adam looked around for someone he knew [or at least knew him] I asked if the passes might be under Gaijin Studio. Adam asked the man and sure enough, they were. Adam then asked if there was a pass for Allison. Nope, but the man quickly made her one. Beatty and I picked up our passes and followed Adam into the show.

The artists were starting to set up. Most dealers were ready to go and fans were lined up waiting to get in. After a bit of looking Beatty found his table. Mike and I decided to check the place out. My goal was to get Stallone pieces from Jason Pearson, Tony Harris, and Brian Stelfreeze. Anything else would be gravy. A quick circuit of the con and I was able to learn that Jason Pearson had to cancel, Brian Bolland was running a few hours late [due to a flight problem], and other artists were just rolling in. A line was starting to form for Brian Bolland. I got in along with John Higashi, Steven Lee, James Howell and a few others.

I saw Tony Harris starting to set up the Jolly Roger display. The guys said they’d hold my spot so I could go down. There was already one guy in line and knowing that Tony is very slow I decided to take them up on their offer. I was there at #2. [Last year at Heroes I just missed getting my first Harris sketch — I was next on the list when Tony had to stop sketching so he could get ready for the charity painting session — and I didn’t want to face the same thing again.] Steven Lee was behind me. Things were looking good for both of us. When it was my turn to make a request I told Tony I wanted a Stallone piece. He remembered me from last year. Tony said he’d give it a shot.

Then it was over to the Gaijin booth. The whole gang was there Adam and Allison, Cully, Karl, Brian and Kelsey [who was wearing his StalloneZone shirt!]. Phil Noto was sketching there as well. Several fans were oogling a Brian Stelfreeze painting which was a beaut! I asked Brian if he had started a list and he hadn’t. I was first! When I told Brian I wanted him to do a Stallone piece he called out to Cully [who was sitting further down the way], “Hey Cully! I’m being called up to the big leagues!” LOL! Brian said he wanted to give Jack Carter a shot! Cool by me, as that would have been my choice for him as well.

As I walked the convention I met up with fans that I usually only get to “talk” to via e-mail like Terry webmaster of ComicArt Community, Benno, Rich DeDominicis, Ken Danker of Monster Collectables and Scott Blacksher.

Scott Blacksher has a really cool “Astro-Zombies” Theme. We’ve exchanged a few e-mails over the past year. Scott came by the table and commissioned Beatty to do him an Astro-Zombie sketch.

I could tell that Beatty wasn’t feeling well [too much junk food on the ride up is our guess] but before the sketch was done, I thought that he’d recovered. John didn’t think so. He told Scott that he was sorry that the sketch wasn’t better and he could have it for free.

Scott was really surprised and said the sketch was fine, but Beatty refused to take any money and even said he’d try to come up with a better piece sometime in the future. Scott thanked Beatty and said that he had an autographed copy of “Mark of the Astro-Zombies” that Beatty could have. Big John passed the tape on to me since he knows that I’ve been wanting to see the movie and I’ll get to it before he ever does!

Finally Brian Bolland arrived! By this time Brian had a huge line of people waiting. With almost no time to even catch his breath, Brian began to take time with each fan. Some only wanted a chance to thank Brian for the wonderful work that he’s produced [and continues to produce]. Others were hoping for a sketch or even an opportunity to buy one of his prelims. When it was my time with Brian, I thanked him for providing me with many hours of pleasure, asked if he would autograph a book for a friend and pose for a picture with me. Brian was gracious and modest. He was a true pleasure to meet and I hope that he enjoyed meeting his fans as much as they enjoyed meeting him!

It was cool catching up with some artists that I hadn’t seen in a while. Dan Bereton and his lovely lady were there leading the celebration of the tenth anniversary of The Nocturnals. Eddie Powell and his wife had some really cool Goon t-shirts [James Howell got the last 2XL before me!], sketchbooks, and more. Gus Vasquez was there and promised to have my Stallone commission ready at Heroes. Gus said he’d do it that weekend, but I want him to take the time he’d like to do it “up right.”

Speaking of doing it up right, Sanford Greene has been turning out some great stuff lately. Sanford was sketching away, but did take some time to show us the latest book he’s putting together. It’s got a really hip look and should be a lot of fun once he gets it rolling. LeSean was also doing some work that really kicks butt. Hmmm… perhaps I’ll get them in the Stallone Gallery at some point. Andy Lee was there… and Jason Walker too!

I also gave shirts to Cully and Adam since they had completed Stallone sketches before I had the shirts and I didn’t want them to be left out. The cool thing is that some fans and pros are wearing the shirts to conventions [and not just to mow the grass]. At this point I’m totally out of shirts and I unfortunately ran out before getting one to Tony Harris [I thought we had put a couple back… but they got away].

Speaking of Tony Harris, I decided to check and see if he had finished my commission since Saturday was winding down. I was surprised to find that Tony hadn’t even finished the first sketch yet. Well… at least I was number 2 and Tony was confident that he’d be able to finish before we pulled out on Sunday at noon.

As the show was winding down Kelsey and I were laughing about the hacki-sack game that he got into at MegaCon. Before you could say hacki- Kelsey, Mike and Big Beatty started up a game. Soon Brian was involved… then Cully… and things were rockin’. I don’t know if watching Beatty keep missing with his kicks or Mike‘s doublekicks had us laughing more. The game was called when the janitors were ready to turn off the ligjhts. [At least it seemed that late!]

John Higashi, Steven Lee, James Howell, Jason Walker, Big Beatty, Mike, and I [along with another six or eight people] decided to have dinner at Road House. The meal lasted literally for over two hours as we all laughed and told “war stories” of conventions and art collecting. After everyone had ordered and some of us had even started to get our food the waitress came back to tell John Higashi that they were out of baked potatoes.

John was pretty disappointed, but not as disappointed as Big Beatty when he was told they were out of club sandwiches! Higashi opted for the onions [don’t ask]. Anyway… John‘s picking at his steak mumbling that he would have really liked his potatoe when the waitress brings out baked patatoes to others! Finally she comes back by [John‘s finished his steak by now] and she says, “Oh, we’ve got potatoes now.” John [looking sad] says, “No, that’s ok… I’m finished now.” “But sir, would you like your onions brought out?” John hung his head even lower and said, “No thanks. I’m finished.”

When we finally left the restaurant it was after 10:30… and we were beat. So it was back to the hotel for a bit of sleep… The next morning Mike and I headed back to the Waffle House where we crossed paths with John Higashi, James Howell and Steven Lee. Then on to the convention.

Beatty and I were hanging at his table talking to the folks from Cute Girl Demographics who had the next table. Kelsey came by and hung out for a while. Ya just gotta love Kelsey [even if he did spill coffee on Mike]! After a bit I decided to go down and check on Tony Harris‘ progress. It’s always a good feeling to hear someone tell you how cool your piece is before you get to see it and that’s exactly what happened as I approached Tony‘s table.

Tony had really created a beautiful piece. This is the same guy who told me he had problems with doing a likeness! Man, his Stallone is dead on. Tony always turns out a great sketch and this one was exceptional. Big Beatty thinks it’s the best in my collection. And getting any compliment from Beatty is as rare as Higashi getting a baked potato at Road House.

I couldn’t belive my luck. I was able to get both Brian Stelfreeze and Tony Harris to do Stallone pieces for me… and they both nailed him. Life is good!

As much as I wanted to stay, I knew that we needed to head back to Daytona since we all had work or school the next day. [And in my case I had both since I’m a middle school administrator.] We made a final pass of the convention floor and said our good byes.

We’d had a great time… and are already counting the days untl Heroes!